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Photo: epicanis, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Spanning across southeastern Montana north east of Yellowstone National Park the Forest encompasses nearly 1.3 million acres, the Custer National Forest is known best as one of the most ecologically diverse forests in the Northern Region.
The Custer Gallatin National Forest is located primarily in the south central part of the U.S. state of Montana. It was formed from a merge of the Custer National Forest, located primarily in the south central part of Montana but also with separate sections in northwestern South Dakota, and the Gallatin National Forest, located in South-West Montana, with some of it in North-West Wyoming.
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covering 920,310 acres, is an administrated unit of the Gallatin National Forest, Custer National Forest and the Shoshone National Forest and is named for its jagged peaks resembling bears teeth and for Native Americans that lived in the area.
Just inside of Yellowstone National Park south of Gardiner a sign north of where the road crosses the Gardner River marks the 45th parallel of latitude. A little distance south of the sign, a parking area on the east side of the road is used by bathers in the "Boiling River", one of a very few spots in the park where visitors can soak in naturally-heated water. Bathers must walk upstream about a half mile from the parking area to the place where the footpath reaches the river. This spot is also marked by large clouds of steam, especially in cold weather. Here, the hot water runoff from the Mammoth Terraces, enters the Gardner River. The hot and the cold water mix in pools along the river's edge. Bathers are allowed in the river during daylight hours only. Bathing suits are required, and no alcoholic beverages are allowed. Boiling River is closed in the springtime due to hazardous high water and often does not reopen until mid-summer. It tends to be very crowded, so try to visit very early in the morning during peak season.
Founded in 1978, The Yellowstone Raft Company pioneered white water rafting on the Yellowstone River and is the only company that is fully permitted by both the National Park Service and the National Forest Service to run trips on the Yellowstone River.
This 1.8-million acre Forest spans six mountain ranges and includes two Congressionally-designated Wilderness areas, the Absaroka-Beartooth and Lee Metcalf Wildernesses.